Locations

Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center
Appointment Phone: 443-997-0270

Background

Roy Ziegelstein, M.D., came to Johns Hopkins in 1986 after receiving his M.D. from Boston University, where he was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. He joined the faculty in 1993 and became Professor of Medicine in 2006. Dr. Ziegelstein directed the internal medicine residency program at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center from 1997 to 2006, and he served there as Executive Vice Chairman of the Department of Medicine from 1996 to 2014. He is now the Vice Chair of Humanism in the Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. In 2013, Dr. Ziegelstein became the Vice Dean for Education in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Dr. Ziegelstein received his BA in Biology summa cum laude from Boston University in 1982. He then received his M.D. from Boston University in 1986, and was inducted in the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. Dr. Ziegelstein completed his internship and residency in internal medicine on the Osler Medical Service at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1989 and was an Assistant Chief of Service (ACS) at Johns Hopkins Hospital from 1989 to 1990. Dr. Ziegelstein completed his cardiology fellowship at Johns Hopkins in 1993, with a joint appointment at the NIH. He then joined the cardiology faculty at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, where he has been on faculty continuously since 1993.

Dr. Ziegelstein co-directs the Aliki Initiative at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, a program for internal medicine residents that is focused on the practice of patient-centered care. Dr. Ziegelstein is a 5-time recipient of the George J. Stuart Award for Outstanding Clinical Teaching and he also has received the Professor's Award for Distinction in Teaching in the Clinical Sciences from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The American College of Physicians Maryland Chapter has recognized him with the C. Lockard Conley Award for Contributions to Resident Education and Research and the Theodore E. Woodward Award for Medical Education. He was named a Master of the American College of Physicians in 2012, and received the Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award of the Association of American Medical Colleges in 2013. Dr. Ziegelstein received the first annual Sponsorship Award from the Task Force on Women's Academic Careers in Medicine in the Department of Medicine, and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Distinguished Medical Alumnus Award, both in 2015.

Dr. Ziegelstein is an internationally-recognized expert in the relationship between depression and cardiovascular disease. He directed the Cardiovascular Disease group in the NIH-funded Johns Hopkins Center for Mind-Body Research from 2004-2010.

Dr. Ziegelstein's primary funding priorities involve efforts to understand why patients with heart disease who have depression and/or anxiety have more problems with their heart than those without emotional distress. Depression is important in its own right because of its effects on an individuals quality of life. Dr. Ziegelstein believes that this alone should get the attention of patients with heart disease and their doctors, especially since patients with heart disease have such a high likelihood of being depressed or anxious. In addition, though, research by Dr. Ziegelstein has shown that depressed or anxious individuals with heart disease are less likely to take the medications that are needed to help reduce their risk of heart attack and death.

Further, Dr. Ziegelstein's work has shown that platelets, which are small cells that cause blood to clot, are more sticky in individuals with depression than in individuals without depression. This could place depressed individuals with heart disease at greater risk of a heart attack or stroke. Dr. Ziegelstein and others have also shown that depressed patients with heart disease may be at greater risk of having abnormal nervous system signaling to the heart that may lead to serious heart rhythm abnormalities. Thus, he believes that additional research must be done to define how best to care for patients with such serious illnesses.

Dr. Ziegelstein leads a group that is investigating multiple aspects of this topic, and works closely with psychologists and psychiatrists to provide care to those patients afflicted by both heart disease and emotional distress.